Item #: SCP-055-IT
Object Class: Keter
Special Containment Procedures: Given the spread of SCP-055-IT, definitive containment is currently impossible. The Foundation's efforts are principally focused on identifying all the populations on the Italian territory, monitoring them, and eventually eradicating them if they show signs of growth or establish themselves in highly populated areas. Every news regarding SCP-055-IT instances must be suppressed by SIR-I ("Aureæ Notitiæ") through standard obfuscation procedures.
Update: Experiments by the experts from Site Angerona showed that opening controlled rifts in reality can make SCP-055-IT instances converge towards them, making capture and eradication easier. After such discovery, the protocol "Piscator Vacui" has been approved on the whole Italian territory, with the opening of Areas used to create, control and study SCP-055-IT. Thanks to the protocol, the number of casualties caused by SCP-055-IT has been reduced by 92%.
Description: SCP-055-IT is a species of organism usually residing outside of the known reality which, when emerging, manifest themselves with a serpentine body, usually measuring between 50 cm and 4,5 m in length and weighing from 0,8 to 30 kg, and possessing two side fins. SCP-055-IT's musculature has a flaccid consistency and deforms easily, while the skin is translucent and moderately slimy, colored black or brownish, and covered in fine hair. SCP-055-IT's head is very large, up to one-third of the overall length, and possesses well-developed jaws, of which the lower can spread open with an angle of approximately 100°, fitted with conic teeth with a serrated edge, atrophic eyes (covered in skin in some specimen), and four pairs of vibrissae along the upper edge. Starting from the first half of the back, SCP-055-IT possesses a pale grey or beige-colored elongated fin that extends to the end of the tail, tensed between the posterior vertebral spines.
SCP-055-IT is carnivorous and hunts by suddenly emerging from rifts or areas where the space-time fabric is particularly weak. Exposure to our universe's laws of physics results in a "contraction" of SCP-055-IT's body that, in return, causes a force of suction ranging from ███ N to ██ kN, based on the specimen's dimensions. SCP-055-IT uses this effect to attract their prey to their mouth, stun it and wound it to prevent it from escaping while departing from reality.
It's hypotesized that SCP-055-IT's hair and vibrissae function as sensors to reveal the presence of prey and to find places to emerge, allowing them to plan the attack and spend less time possible in our reality: despite its adaptations to reduce the shock caused by the emersion, the effects of manifesting in our universe are deleterious and lead to the death of smaller instances in a few minutes, while bigger instances can survive for various hours.
There is not much information regarding SCP-055-IT's behavior and growth, given the impossibility to directly observe them. From the available data, it is known that small-sized instances move in packs composed by several instances, while larger ones are solitary and territorial, with a preferred emerging area; however, in case of a large number of preys, bigger instances can cohexist in the same area.
History of the anomaly: The most ancient sources about SCP-055-IT are from partial documents by the Ordo Iani dating back to VIII century, in which the anomaly's description and a summary of the studies on it are reported; in particular, it's been highlighted that most of SCP-055-IT's emersions took place in areas with independent anomalous phenomena, leading to the hypothesis that they are "attracted" in some way by paranormal events. Following documentation, dated to the second half of the IX century, revealed that the Order managed to develop a method to seal emersion areas and launched a campaign to limit SCP-055-IT's spread, especially in urban areas.
Although the measures' initial effectiveness, SCP-055-IT's population grew significantly in the second half of the XIII century, especially in Apulia and Basilicata; this attracted the CCSG's attention, who designated SCP-055-IT as a demonic anomaly and created a dedicated section to pursue their large-scale extermination, surveillance of their manifestation zones and their stabilization. Such operations had noteworthy effects and lead to a sharp reduction of SCP-055-IT's population on the territory.
With RIDIA's advent, both the CCSG and the OI lost the control they had over the territory, thereby leading to the degradation of the esoteric structures, and reduction of the extermination campaigns; this, alongside the start of the two World Wars and [REDACTED BY ORDER OF THE S5 SUPERINTENDENCE], caused a dramatic increase of SCP-055-IT's population. At the time of writing, is it estimated that around █ emersion phenomena with assaults on human beings happen every year on the Italian territory (particularly concentrated in Apulia, Basilicata and Aosta Valley), of which less than a third results in casualties. Data from Foundation's other Branches report that this phenomenon happens principally in Italy, France, and Switzerland, where most of these events occur.
Addendum 1: Following the development of the Reality Cell System, Site Angerona's Direction gave the authorization to open a controlled rift in high-security Section C to capture SCP-055-IT instances at various stages of development. To do so, the "Piscator Vacui" directive has been issued, which has dedicated ██.000.000 euros over the ten years of duration of the project, overseen by Dr. Claudia Barra.
Following are the most relevant documents about the project. A Level 3 or Higher Clearance is required for access.
DIPLOMATIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
Official statement released and authorized by the SRE-M dated 09/08/2007
To Dr. Claudia Barra,
I inform you that the Section of Ethical-Moral Regulation has visioned your study proposal of the anomalous species designated as SCP-055-IT. Following a debate and a vote, it has been approved, provided that:
- No more than 5 members of the D-Class personnel are used per month for testing. The SRE-M recognizes that it is difficult to introduce adequate-sized animal test subjects in Site Angerona, thus it authorizes the use of a limited number of subjects;
- All experiments must be transcribed, and all the reports must be sent to Site Virtus for a cost/benefit analysis.
The Superintendence and the SRE-M maintain the right to stop any experimentation in the event that the requirements above are not met, if the economical and human costs are considered superfluous, and/or testing involves severe risks for the personnel.
Best regards,
Dr. Lorenzo Ferri, Director of Ethical-Moral Regulation Section.
DIMENSIONAL ESOTERIC DIVISION
Official statement released and authorized by the DED dated 10/10/2007
To the members of the Council of Superintendents and of the SRE-M,
I hereby inform you of the success of the preliminary tests involving SCP-055-IT. In detail, following the controlled weakening of the space-time structure, two members of the D-Class personnel were introduced in the area and remained there for three days. At 18:37 on 08/10/2007, two SCP-055-IT instances attacked one of the subjects; automated systems detected the space-time distortion and activated the Reality Cell, making the two specimens' capture possible.
The first, measuring 0,8 m and weighing 1,1 kg, died within minutes from emerging and was rapidly preserved for the autopsy. The second instance, long 1,5 m and weighing 1,7 kg, remained alive for approximately eight hours, allowing a prolonged observation of SCP-055-IT's behavior.
All the details on such observations and on performed autopsies are contained in the documents attached to this mail.
Best regards,
Dr. Claudia Barra, responsible for the "Piscator Vacui" project.
Remarkable observations
Date: 18/11/07
Details: The subject, D-1950, has been suddenly attacked by 4 small-sized instances (between 75 and 110 cm long) and dragged out of the known reality; Reality Cell's activation allowed the capture of one of the instances, which died after 4 hours from emerging. The other three instances have been observed in the next experiments, from 25/11/07 to 12/02/08, consistently showing group hunting behavior.
Date: 21/02/08
Details: Initially, only one of the known instances emerged, without showing any interest in the subject (D-0204) and huddling under a table with a fearful attitude. After the initial surprise, command ordered D-0204 to exit the room and consulted the data reported by the sensors, according to which second time-space distortion was present which, compared to the one created by the first instance, was bigger and more unstable. It is therefore believed that a second SCP-055-IT specimen, larger than the previous one, was lured into the area and attacked or drove away the smaller instances. The captured individual died after four days.
Date: 25/07/08
Details: Taking advantage of the monitored instance apparently retreating, staff authorized and started to check Reality Cell System's structural integrity. During those operations, the SCP-055-IT individual suddenly reappeared, emerged and attacked one of the technicians, ripping off their left arm and part of the shoulder with fatal results.
Date: 18/11/08
Details: The Area's sensors revealed a remarkable distortion (200 milliNortia approx.) in the Area's vicinity, corresponding to a great number of entities in movement. For security reasons, dr. Barra interrupted testing and requested the opening of a separate structure for experimentation. Request accepted by the Superintendents' Council on 30/11/08.
Date: 05/03/09
Details: Opening of the separate study structure designed as Area-55-IT, located 30 km from Site Angerona and built so that animals can be used for help, eliminating the need of D-Class personnel. Over a three months period, Area-55-IT's equipment showed that all the SCP-055-IT instances previously located in the vicinity of Site Angerona moved near the structure, leading to the capture of ██ instances; it's believed that the presence of an opening in the space-time fabric makes SCP-055-IT's emersion far easier, therefore making them a favoured emersion location for the anomaly.
Date: 23/11/10
Details: Openness of Area-55-IT-B at ███████, in Basilicata, which presented an elevated number of cases of events related to SCP-055-IT. In the first two months of activity, the incidents plummeted drastically and, after six months, ceased completely . In light of these data, the Superintendence is considering expanding the "Piscator Vacui" project to manage all the sensitive areas.
30/05/11 Update: The creation of the "Piscator Vacui" containment protocol for SCP-055-IT has been approved. - S5-09
Addendum 2: Below is a summary of the observations made during various autopsies of SCP-055-IT instances by dr. Baldini, researcher at Site Angerona.
SCP-055-IT's internal anatomy has an interesting peculiarity, which is that larger instances have usually tissues more resistant to degradation and tendentially more resilient. SCP-#-IT's skin is thick but lax, with its colour varying between translucent black and brown, strongly attached to the lower layers thanks to microfibrillar structures functionally similar to non-anomalous animals' extracellular matrix. […] The musculature of the anomaly is flaccid and resistant to cutting and penetration, requiring the use of dedicated tools to damage it; an exceptions are its tendons and ligaments, which are composed of highly resistant fibers and are hard and thick, especially along the spinal chord and in the articulation between the upper and lower jaws.[…]
SCP-055-IT's skeleton is mainly composed of a resistant and compact bone-like material, with an appearance similar to glazed ceramic; an exception are the first two vertebrae and fins, which instead are composed of spongy and elastic tissue, easily compressible and capable of returning to the original state with the same easiness. This grants remarkable mobility to the anomaly's head and cushions bites' blowbacks.
SCP-055-IT's skull has three main pairs of openings: proceeding from the front to the back, there are the nasal cavities, followed by two large fenestrae that deepen in the skull — very likely in order to reduce its weight — and, placed slightly higher, the orbital cavities; usually, these are of reduced size, and the eyes are frequently small and barely functional, or even atrophic and covered by skin. Along the margin of the upper jaw, there are four additional holes per side, for the attachment of sensorial vibrissae.[…] SCP-055-IT does not have a proper brain, rather it possesses a series of pseudo-gangliar nervous agglomerates distributed in the whole body, the largest of which is housed in the cranial cavity and presents well developed connections to the sensory organs and to the facial muscles. Teeth are present in various numbers among different individuals, but ther are uniformly cone-shaped, with the tips hooked inwardly and serrated along the margins. The mandible is bipartite and capable of widening apart possesses a thick tongue covered in thorny scales on its dorsal surface in order to further immobilize prey and aid in swallowing it.[…]
SCP-055-IT has a simple digestive system, formed by an extensible, dead-ended tubular organ inside of which the aliments are "chewed" by bony platings, digested through the secretion of lytic enzymes, and absorbed; materials which are not biolgical, or not able to be assimilated in general, are expelled through the mouth. In addition, there are other four full organs with unknown functions: a small pair composed of compact tissue placed on the sides of the digestive organ, an elongated and spongy organ containing a blackish, dense liquid placed dorsally and a webbed structure posted at the center of the thoracic region and in communication with the other districts of the body.[…]
Addendum 3: On 13/07/13, Site Angerona's sensors reported a large space-time distortion caused by a pack of several hundreds of SCP-055-IT instances, which is believed to have been attracted by the operations of the "Piscator Vacui" protocol, moving towards Italy from North-East; it is thought that they'll reach the country in 202█, but is also believed that the increase of specimens will be manageable by the currently existing structures. Therefore, the Superintendence believed it to be necessary to issue a directive to all personnel with Level 4/055 or higher clearance to handle the event.
S5 SUPERINTENDENCE
Official statement released by the Superintendence's Council dated 16/07/2013 and reserved to authorized personnel
To our colleagues,
we're sure the ones that received this document are already informed about the alarming findings made by Site Angerona's experts, that is, the large SCP-055-IT pack directed to our Country. Well, that information is only partially true.
We confirm the existence of such a pack, but it is not composed of a massive number of indiviuals, but by a single, massive entity (designed as SCP-055-IT-α) accompanied by a significant number, yet still less than the one released in prior communications, of smaller instances. After consulting the experts, we have concluded that SCP-055-IT-α is only a medium-term problem, as it would need a notable space-time distortion to emerge or to open a rift by itself, a long and difficult process that we could easily halt with the Reality Cell Systems.
Furthermore, according to the available estimates, the number of anomalies introduced by this event is still manageable by the "Piscator Vacui" protocol, therefore it will remain effective and will receive reinforcement by other two Areas placed in critical zones. Further updates will be released if considered necessary.
